Frequently Asked Questions
Who are your children and families?
We are open to children who are part of families that are seeking a deeply engaging, meaningful and exciting approach to education. We have welcomed children who thrive best in classes with low student teacher ratios as well as children from homeschooling backgrounds whose families wish to supplement their learning and provide an opportunity for more social engagement. Many children who attend our program have their learning supplemented by private tutoring, other programs, or home-based schooling within their family and their larger homeschooling communities. We have found that this blend benefits all of our participants by allowing them to interact with and support children from various educational backgrounds and by introducing a variety of energies, experiences and interests to the programming as a whole.
We are open to children who are part of families that are seeking a deeply engaging, meaningful and exciting approach to education. We have welcomed children who thrive best in classes with low student teacher ratios as well as children from homeschooling backgrounds whose families wish to supplement their learning and provide an opportunity for more social engagement. Many children who attend our program have their learning supplemented by private tutoring, other programs, or home-based schooling within their family and their larger homeschooling communities. We have found that this blend benefits all of our participants by allowing them to interact with and support children from various educational backgrounds and by introducing a variety of energies, experiences and interests to the programming as a whole.
What are your teacher-child ratios?
Our teacher-child ratios vary between the classrooms, and is usually kept at one to nine or less. This ratio allows for each child to receive the individual attention and guidance that he or she needs while also experiencing the growth, validation, stimulation and sense of belonging that comes from being part of a close-knit and supportive group.
Our teacher-child ratios vary between the classrooms, and is usually kept at one to nine or less. This ratio allows for each child to receive the individual attention and guidance that he or she needs while also experiencing the growth, validation, stimulation and sense of belonging that comes from being part of a close-knit and supportive group.
What are the ages of your participants?
For this current school year, our younger classroom is open to children 7.5 to 9 years of age, our intermediate classroom is open to children 9.5-12 years of age, and our older classrooms is open to children 11 to 13 years of age. Our participants move together as a cohort. Because of this cohort system, children do not age out of the program, and the same group of participants learns and moves forward together from one year to the next.
For this current school year, our younger classroom is open to children 7.5 to 9 years of age, our intermediate classroom is open to children 9.5-12 years of age, and our older classrooms is open to children 11 to 13 years of age. Our participants move together as a cohort. Because of this cohort system, children do not age out of the program, and the same group of participants learns and moves forward together from one year to the next.
How are the children evaluated?
We believe that children learn best when the learning happens in an atmosphere that is free of coercion, measurement, judgment or comparison. Rather than relying simply on grading or other forms of numerical evaluation, we prefer to measure success by the degree of eagerness and enthusiasm with which our children come to school each day. We don’t use formal grades, testing, point systems or reward/success charts, nor do we issue report or progress reports. Homework assignments are given to the older group on an intermittent and/or optional basis, and/or upon the request/initiation of the children or their parents (an exception is for participants who are 12 years of age or older, in which case the homework assigned becomes mandatory). Because of the very low teacher-child ratios, our teachers are able to easily gauge where participants are excelling and where they need greater support and skills practice. Parents having any questions or concerns about progress or learning goals are always encouraged to touch base with the teachers.
We believe that children learn best when the learning happens in an atmosphere that is free of coercion, measurement, judgment or comparison. Rather than relying simply on grading or other forms of numerical evaluation, we prefer to measure success by the degree of eagerness and enthusiasm with which our children come to school each day. We don’t use formal grades, testing, point systems or reward/success charts, nor do we issue report or progress reports. Homework assignments are given to the older group on an intermittent and/or optional basis, and/or upon the request/initiation of the children or their parents (an exception is for participants who are 12 years of age or older, in which case the homework assigned becomes mandatory). Because of the very low teacher-child ratios, our teachers are able to easily gauge where participants are excelling and where they need greater support and skills practice. Parents having any questions or concerns about progress or learning goals are always encouraged to touch base with the teachers.
What is the daily schedule?
Drop off for the program is between 9 am and 9:30 am, and pick up is between 3 and 3:30 pm. We begin our day at 9:30 am with a short morning circle to re-connect with one another and focus our day. We spend our mornings mostly inside the classroom working on academics through a variety of engaging, interactive and hands-on lessons, discussions, experiments, demonstrations, projects and crafts with a snack break at 10:30 am and lunch at 12:30. Our afternoons are mostly spent outdoors doing free-play, some structured cooperative activities and games, and nature studies. After about 1.5 hours outside, we return to the classroom around 2:30 pm to do some quiet reading, art/craft work, and optional academic blocks for the older students. Parents are invited to pick up their children between 3 and 3:30 pm (although aftercare can be arranged if needed at an additional cost).
Drop off for the program is between 9 am and 9:30 am, and pick up is between 3 and 3:30 pm. We begin our day at 9:30 am with a short morning circle to re-connect with one another and focus our day. We spend our mornings mostly inside the classroom working on academics through a variety of engaging, interactive and hands-on lessons, discussions, experiments, demonstrations, projects and crafts with a snack break at 10:30 am and lunch at 12:30. Our afternoons are mostly spent outdoors doing free-play, some structured cooperative activities and games, and nature studies. After about 1.5 hours outside, we return to the classroom around 2:30 pm to do some quiet reading, art/craft work, and optional academic blocks for the older students. Parents are invited to pick up their children between 3 and 3:30 pm (although aftercare can be arranged if needed at an additional cost).
What is the teaching approach, and do you cover the Ontario Curriculum?
Perhaps more than anything else, we receive many inquiries about our teaching style and approach. What we do might look traditional in some ways as the kids often start out sitting at a table with a teacher and whiteboard in front of them, but the day’s activities and lessons are much more flexible, fluid and creative than what would happen in a conventional school setting. Perhaps most notably, the teacher doesn’t follow a pre-set, provincially mandated curriculum. Instead, we often introduce topics through a story approach (e.g. reading a book or article together) to discover what excites and interests the children, and then assess what especially engages their interest based on the questions they are asking and the level of excitement they demonstrate. We then delve deeper to see where their questions take us; we discover what they want to know more about and further explore, and then we design more lessons and activities to support that interest. Much of the reading, writing, math, history, geography, and art/music then gets incorporated around a particular topic or theme so that the learning becomes naturally grounded in a larger and more meaningful context.
For example, in our first year, the children read a story about Helen Keller together (an American woman who became deaf and blind following an illness as an infant) and they became incredibly interested both in her as a person and in the science of her different disabilities – they wanted to learn more vision and how we see, as well as why and how blindness occurs, which allowed us to create units and projects around both the eye/vision and the ear/hearing/sound. They were also very keen to learn about where Helen had lived and travelled, allowing us to create geography, history and math lessons around her life experiences. The kids even designed games and activities during their free play time to try and simulate both the physical and emotional challenges of blindness and deafness. This then led into inquiries around other different abilities and the experiences of differently abled people.
In brief, Blue Whale Children’s Centre uses a very inquiry-based approach which means that the children’s questions and interests guide the direction of the lessons, activities, and projects that follow, such that what unfolds in the classroom is based on the children’s level of interest combined with their levels of ability, individually and as a group. The learning is also very hands-on, creative and play-based whenever possible. By using this approach of “following the sparkle in their eyes” and then making lessons concrete and accessible, we have covered wonderfully diverse topics, and the learning is very tangible and truly meaningful for the children.
Perhaps more than anything else, we receive many inquiries about our teaching style and approach. What we do might look traditional in some ways as the kids often start out sitting at a table with a teacher and whiteboard in front of them, but the day’s activities and lessons are much more flexible, fluid and creative than what would happen in a conventional school setting. Perhaps most notably, the teacher doesn’t follow a pre-set, provincially mandated curriculum. Instead, we often introduce topics through a story approach (e.g. reading a book or article together) to discover what excites and interests the children, and then assess what especially engages their interest based on the questions they are asking and the level of excitement they demonstrate. We then delve deeper to see where their questions take us; we discover what they want to know more about and further explore, and then we design more lessons and activities to support that interest. Much of the reading, writing, math, history, geography, and art/music then gets incorporated around a particular topic or theme so that the learning becomes naturally grounded in a larger and more meaningful context.
For example, in our first year, the children read a story about Helen Keller together (an American woman who became deaf and blind following an illness as an infant) and they became incredibly interested both in her as a person and in the science of her different disabilities – they wanted to learn more vision and how we see, as well as why and how blindness occurs, which allowed us to create units and projects around both the eye/vision and the ear/hearing/sound. They were also very keen to learn about where Helen had lived and travelled, allowing us to create geography, history and math lessons around her life experiences. The kids even designed games and activities during their free play time to try and simulate both the physical and emotional challenges of blindness and deafness. This then led into inquiries around other different abilities and the experiences of differently abled people.
In brief, Blue Whale Children’s Centre uses a very inquiry-based approach which means that the children’s questions and interests guide the direction of the lessons, activities, and projects that follow, such that what unfolds in the classroom is based on the children’s level of interest combined with their levels of ability, individually and as a group. The learning is also very hands-on, creative and play-based whenever possible. By using this approach of “following the sparkle in their eyes” and then making lessons concrete and accessible, we have covered wonderfully diverse topics, and the learning is very tangible and truly meaningful for the children.
As you are not following the Ontario Curriculum, what are some of the topics/subject areas that are covered?
Using the inquiry-based model during our first school year, we ended up covering units that ranged across pioneering life, farming, plants and seeds, the life of the eastern Ontario coyote, the Canadian tundra, First Nations/Inuit culture, the civilizations of ancient Rome, Egypt and Greece, history of the French Impressionist painters, brain structure and function, the human nervous system, mindfulness techniques, conflict resolution techniques, the first flight to the moon, the Helen Keller story, the Terry Fox story, different abilities, digestion, and African drumming! Within the context of these topics, the children covered the related science, mathematics, history, geography, language and arts.
During the second year, the children went on a cross-Canada type tour by surveying the different provinces through story and then delving into some of the specific aspects that particularly interested the kids – through this process, they ended up investigating traditional Inuit throat singing and the Northern lights of the Arctic, dog-sledding across the Yukon and Northwest territories, the delivery of food via ice roads to remote northern communities, the boreal forests and logging industry of B.C., and many other unique provincial, cultural and geographical features all the way across the country, ending with a unit on Canadian government and a tour of Parliament Hill. At the same time, but on different days, they investigated theatre, puppetry, myths, fables and story-telling; the physics of motion and simple machines; the artwork and techniques of some famous Canadian artists; the emotional intelligence of cooperation, honesty, integrity and conflict resolution; winter chemistry and ocean environmental biology; computer coding; and select global/historical issues.
Now in our eighth year, their curiosity and questions continue to lead and inform our learning adventure, driving both how and what we teach and learn about with them.
Using the inquiry-based model during our first school year, we ended up covering units that ranged across pioneering life, farming, plants and seeds, the life of the eastern Ontario coyote, the Canadian tundra, First Nations/Inuit culture, the civilizations of ancient Rome, Egypt and Greece, history of the French Impressionist painters, brain structure and function, the human nervous system, mindfulness techniques, conflict resolution techniques, the first flight to the moon, the Helen Keller story, the Terry Fox story, different abilities, digestion, and African drumming! Within the context of these topics, the children covered the related science, mathematics, history, geography, language and arts.
During the second year, the children went on a cross-Canada type tour by surveying the different provinces through story and then delving into some of the specific aspects that particularly interested the kids – through this process, they ended up investigating traditional Inuit throat singing and the Northern lights of the Arctic, dog-sledding across the Yukon and Northwest territories, the delivery of food via ice roads to remote northern communities, the boreal forests and logging industry of B.C., and many other unique provincial, cultural and geographical features all the way across the country, ending with a unit on Canadian government and a tour of Parliament Hill. At the same time, but on different days, they investigated theatre, puppetry, myths, fables and story-telling; the physics of motion and simple machines; the artwork and techniques of some famous Canadian artists; the emotional intelligence of cooperation, honesty, integrity and conflict resolution; winter chemistry and ocean environmental biology; computer coding; and select global/historical issues.
Now in our eighth year, their curiosity and questions continue to lead and inform our learning adventure, driving both how and what we teach and learn about with them.
Does your program include physical or outdoor education?
At Blue Whale, we believe that children learn best when they have consistent and daily multiple opportunities for physical movement and outdoor experiences. During the morning, when children are focused on more academic and indoor pursuits, they are provided with multiple opportunities to exercise their bodies. Whether it is just a few minutes to stretch and bend for a body break during a lesson, a longer session of running and playing following snack or lunch breaks, or a planned, hands-on activity that reinforces the academic concepts being learned through game or other physical activity, the teachers ensure that all children have the time and space needed to incorporate gross motor skills and movement throughout their morning studies. In addition, the majority of the afternoon is spent outside, regardless of the season or weather. Like Forest Schools and other nature-based outdoor programming, Blue Whale embraces children’s natural affinity for nature and the outdoors, allowing them a full 1.5 hours each day to run, climb trees, splash in puddles, build forest forts, and swing in the fresh air and sunshine. Even rainy days are occasion for fun and exploration, and winter times sees the children skating, sledding, following animal tracks and building snow forts and snowmen. Blue Whale children are kept active throughout the day, and throughout each season and type of weather, and our families appreciate that when they pick up their child at the end of a Blue Whale day, they are collecting a child who has been thoroughly stimulated both mentally and physically, and who also sees the outdoors and nature as an integral component to their experiences of learning and playing.
At Blue Whale, we believe that children learn best when they have consistent and daily multiple opportunities for physical movement and outdoor experiences. During the morning, when children are focused on more academic and indoor pursuits, they are provided with multiple opportunities to exercise their bodies. Whether it is just a few minutes to stretch and bend for a body break during a lesson, a longer session of running and playing following snack or lunch breaks, or a planned, hands-on activity that reinforces the academic concepts being learned through game or other physical activity, the teachers ensure that all children have the time and space needed to incorporate gross motor skills and movement throughout their morning studies. In addition, the majority of the afternoon is spent outside, regardless of the season or weather. Like Forest Schools and other nature-based outdoor programming, Blue Whale embraces children’s natural affinity for nature and the outdoors, allowing them a full 1.5 hours each day to run, climb trees, splash in puddles, build forest forts, and swing in the fresh air and sunshine. Even rainy days are occasion for fun and exploration, and winter times sees the children skating, sledding, following animal tracks and building snow forts and snowmen. Blue Whale children are kept active throughout the day, and throughout each season and type of weather, and our families appreciate that when they pick up their child at the end of a Blue Whale day, they are collecting a child who has been thoroughly stimulated both mentally and physically, and who also sees the outdoors and nature as an integral component to their experiences of learning and playing.
Are screens used as part of the program?
The short answer is, no. Many of our children are already receiving well over the recommended screen times as part of their daily lives, and studies are clear about the potential negative effects of this widespread phenomenon, which applies regardless of the content (i.e. educational computer-based material, T.V. watching and video games all affect brain development in similar ways). Because of this, we have deliberately chosen not to use screens as an integral portion of the program. Also, as our program’s emphasis is on relationships as much as academics, we want the learning and content delivery to be based in daily life and experience as much as possible. Occasionally, as a supplement to a lesson or activity, a teacher may choose to show a relatively short educational video clip. However, this is always and only used to supplement the learning rather than as the primary facilitation of the learning. Families who participate in the program appreciate that they are sending their children into a screen-free environment where technology is valued but not used as the main or exclusive teaching tool.
The short answer is, no. Many of our children are already receiving well over the recommended screen times as part of their daily lives, and studies are clear about the potential negative effects of this widespread phenomenon, which applies regardless of the content (i.e. educational computer-based material, T.V. watching and video games all affect brain development in similar ways). Because of this, we have deliberately chosen not to use screens as an integral portion of the program. Also, as our program’s emphasis is on relationships as much as academics, we want the learning and content delivery to be based in daily life and experience as much as possible. Occasionally, as a supplement to a lesson or activity, a teacher may choose to show a relatively short educational video clip. However, this is always and only used to supplement the learning rather than as the primary facilitation of the learning. Families who participate in the program appreciate that they are sending their children into a screen-free environment where technology is valued but not used as the main or exclusive teaching tool.
What does the yearly calendar for the program look like?
We follow the calendar for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board for start and end dates and for holidays including Christmas, March Break and the summer holidays. We do not include the OCDSB Professional Development (PD) Days.
We follow the calendar for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board for start and end dates and for holidays including Christmas, March Break and the summer holidays. We do not include the OCDSB Professional Development (PD) Days.
What is a family’s financial investment?
The Blue Whale Children’s Centre is based on a non-profit, family cooperative financial model, with equitable costing between participating families.
The rent, insurance and supply cost gets split by all of the participating families each month, and includes tuition from teachers and directors whose children are also participating. The tuition itself is costed out separately based on the number of days attended by a child (whether they are doing the 2 day a week program, the 3 day a week program, or coming full time). The costs will therefore be higher if there are less children participating and lower with more children participating.
Cost Estimates for Full versus Part Time
Full time program (5 days per week) = $780 - $850 per month
Part time program (3 days per week) = $530 - $600 per month
Part time program (2 days per week) = $380 - $450 per month
The Blue Whale Children’s Centre is based on a non-profit, family cooperative financial model, with equitable costing between participating families.
The rent, insurance and supply cost gets split by all of the participating families each month, and includes tuition from teachers and directors whose children are also participating. The tuition itself is costed out separately based on the number of days attended by a child (whether they are doing the 2 day a week program, the 3 day a week program, or coming full time). The costs will therefore be higher if there are less children participating and lower with more children participating.
Cost Estimates for Full versus Part Time
Full time program (5 days per week) = $780 - $850 per month
Part time program (3 days per week) = $530 - $600 per month
Part time program (2 days per week) = $380 - $450 per month